King Pawn
by onyour-own
Summary: No summary- there's just too much and I suck at doing summaries anyways- but I hope you give it a chance- also, I am the author of Listen to Rain...I'm not sure if this will do anything though hahaha- anyways, I hope you enjoy :
1. Chapter 1

One cannot play chess if one becomes aware of the pieces as living souls and the fact that the Whites and the Blacks have more in common with each other than with the players.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

-For a king to survive, it's good for him to be able to skillfully manipulate the other pieces using both the knight and queen. Beneath the throne, the bodies of your pieces will pile up with your sins. You must not lose.-

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

[We cannot resist the fascination of sacrifice, since a passion for sacrifices is part of a chessplayer's nature.]

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"Sebastian." Ciel's voice was the same.

Dull.

Bored.

Empty.

It was a voice that didn't suit a thirteen year old child, who in this period of life, was supposed to be all smiles and shy around girls. No, it was a voice that suited a weary and pain filled human being who had seen everything that humanity had to offer. Loss. Sorrow. Bertayal. Darkness.

"You desire something?" Sebastian's smooth and controlled voice sounded gently in the air that hung inbetween the two beings that were alone in the large office that Ciel usually worked within.

"I feel like eating something sweet." Ciel replied boredly not bothering to look up from the papers that he was reading at the moment,"Go make me something with chocolate." he commanded his butler mundanely, his one eye scanned the sheet of paper in front of him slowly.

"Yes, my lord." Sebastian placed his right hand over his heart and gave a respectful half bow before turning around and exiting the almost barren office leaving Ciel alone.

The one eyed little earl sighed heavily and let the sheets of paper slide down silently through his fingers so that they landed on the polished dark wooden desk that he sat behind.

It was times like these that he felt clearly and sharply, that he lived in the darkness, surrounded by shadow, surrounded by twistedness, surrounded by the underworld of hell. However, contrary to someone else who would have clawed their way back up, Ciel embraced it, Ciel faced it, and Ciel had a great affinity towards it.

And it was that affinity that Sebastian had a great fascination for.

It was that affinity in which Sebastion took advantage of.

Ciel let his elbow rest against the arm of the chair and propped his head up against his hand as he let his thoughts wander around in the darknes of his mind. Life was empty for him, he lived to hurt those who had hurt him, he had traded his future to do that and so he had no purpose.

Today was just a boring day, there was no work, there were no meetings, and the queen had assigned no jobs for Ciel to do at the moment. It was one of those laid back days of relaxation that Ciel hated with a passion, to make it worse, it was only the beginning of the day. He still had a long way to go before night fell.

"Pluto! Stop!" a faint voice from outside was heard wailing followed by a gruff barking noise. A crashing noise followed by a brief but loud and keening whimper resounded in the air before everything fel silent.

Ciel sighed and stood up, maybe he would just go to his room and read a book, he had no visitors today and he was done with all of his lessons, it was a good chance to catch up on some philosophy maybe, and if he was lucky, maybe he would be able to engage Sebastian in some sort of game. The black haired boy felt the corners of his mouth tug up slightly in an unbecoming smirk as he took his time walking back to his room.

That would be interesting.

Sebastian gently knocked on the door as he wheeled a little cart filled with tea, cake and a letter that lay on a silver tray.

"Come in." Ciel's voice sounded in reply to the knock that Sebastian had given.

The butler opened the door revealing the little earl sitting in front of a chessboard where all of the pieces except for a black King, and a white King were scattered all over the floor.

Slightly taken aback by the sight that greeted him, Sebastian paused for a moment before sighing and wheeling the cart into the room where he proceeded to pour tea for Ciel and serve him the chocolate cake that he had baked only moments ago,"Were you playing chess?" Sebastian asked conversationally as he eyed the only two pieces that were standing alone on the chessboard.

The black King was placed in front of Ciel, while the white King was on the opposite side of the chessboard facing him.

"What of it?" Ciel asked as he finished up his slice of cake and took a careful sip of the steaming tea so that he wouldn't burn his tongue. His face was the usual arrangement of features that told someone that he would be indefinately bored no matter what happened.

"Nothing of course." Sebastian smiled as he whisked away the empty plate and utensil from Ciel and placed it on the cart so that he could take it away later when Ciel was done with his tea,"I was just wondering,"

Ciel paused in midsip of the steaming fragrant tea, his blue eye gazed at his butler coldly and slightly detatchedly,"I don't have an obligation to answer you." was all the littler earl said before proceeding to sip his beverage.

"Of course." Sebastian placed his right hand over his heart and bowed before straightening up and taking the empty tea cup away from Ciel."And here is the letter from the queen. It has just arrived." the butler picked up the delicate silver tray and held it in front of Ciel.

The thirteen year old earl looked at the creamy white rich envelope for a moment before picking the letter up gingerly. It was thin, and the lip of the envelope was sealed shut with blood red wax that had the royal seal pressed into it.

Sebastian turned around, placed the tray onto the cart and walked out of the room leaving Ciel alone to read whatever it was the queen had sent him this time.

There was silence as Ciel looked at the envelope in his hands while turning it over and over, another job...

Who knew what it was this time.

Without a moments hesitation, the young black haired earl lifted the seal and as he opened the envelope he could smell the perfume that the queen used.

Cloying.

Heavy.

Sickly sweet.

Ciel shuddered but proceeded to lift out the folded sheet of creamy white paper and opened it, his one eye scanned the short but formal letter in silence. The information didn't interest him in the slightest and it was a boring job, but duty was duty, and it was Ciel's job to carry out the queen's dirty and destructive wishes.

He lived in the underworld.

He was ruler of it.

Sighing, Ciel folded the sheet of paper once more and slid it back into the envelope before tossing the letter onto the chessboard in front of him. It landed on the checkered board with a slight rustle of paper.

Right in the middle of the two opposing kings.

There really wasn't anything left that could surprise Sebastian, he had lived a long life and he had seen all that there was to see in humanity.

Humans were interesting, the range and depths of their emotions. The guilt and compassion that they showed. The pride and empathy that they portrayed.

They were interesting, but not surprising.

So it came as a slight surprised to Sebastian when he first appeared before Ciel.

The youthfulness of the child.

The extent of the vastness, depth and maturity of his mind.

The innocent darkness of light that he exuded.

For such a child to be in existence...

However, the thing that surprised Sebastian the most was Ciel's affinity for the darkness and yearning for the light.

It drew his attention towards the little child.

And yet, the arrogance of the young master, that annoying pathetic human arrogance that the stupid child clung to was at times infuritating.

However, it was that very reason, that made it amusing to see such a master as Ciel, and it frightened Sebastian at times, when he realized how attached he had become to what was once, just a meal to him.

Sebastain silently wheeled the cart down the hallway and made his way towards the kitchen where he would begin to prepare lunch for the young master.

Master.

The word made Sebastian itch all over as he finally reached the kitchen and began to wash the dirty plates, cups and silverware.

The demon couldn't help but to wonder if he had become more humane because of the time he had spent here.

Sebastian felt the corners of his mouth lift up at the corners in a smug smirk.

Now that would be interesting.

-.-.-.

So...this is my new story :]

I don't know where this one is going to go right now so it might take awhile for chapter 2 to be out because I'm still in the middle of developing the plot.

And like my other story- Listen to the Rain.

This story will also not have a summary [since I'm no good at them anyways and there's just so much to say sometimes.] so I hope that this fic lives up to your expectations and if you have any ideas for this one, feel free to PM me-

But thank you for those of you who have decided to give this story a chance :]


	2. Chapter 2

One cannot play chess if one becomes aware of the pieces as living souls and the fact that the Whites and the Blacks have more in common with each other than with the players.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

-For a king to survive, it's good for him to be able to skillfully manipulate the other pieces using both the knight and queen. Beneath the throne, the bodies of your pieces will pile up with your sins. You must not lose.-

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

[We cannot resist the fascination of sacrifice, since a passion for sacrifices is part of a chessplayer's nature.]

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

At half past 8, Ciel decided to go out for a night stroll. The queen's letter had him feeling a little bit apprehensive about the new job that he had been assigned, and he wasn't sure what he was getting into since the information was so vague.

Sebastian walked behind his small master as the two people walked along the empty street. His shadow consumed Ciel's shadow.

"The queen is getting nervous about a rebel group located in the slums of this place." Ciel spoke quietly, but his voice was still dead and emotionless,"She wants me to get rid of them all." the air was cold and a light breeze slowly brushed past the two people carrying away the scent of demon and human.

"What will you do my lord?" Sebastian asked conversationally as they walked on and on deeper and deeper into the ghetto. They could see that the crumbling and dirty shacks and buildings were in poor condition, shanties were everywhere. Drunken men stumbled into brothels, and there was a beerhouse every other building. Little children clothed in nothing but a single ragged and dirty shirt were seen running around in the streets that had human waste smeared all over the slick stone ground. It smelled awful.

"Gather information about the rebel group of course." Ciel replied softly. The poverty and filth of this place didn't bother him for he had been through the worst when he had been in the hands of...those...people after his home had been burned down, if one could call them human.

"And how will you accomplish that?" Sebastian asked almost in sheer amusement as he looked around the place in interest. The humans that lived here were no better than the dogs were.

Ciel suddenly stopped walking but Sebastian who had sensed it immediately stopped behind him. The young human slowly turned around to to face his lean and tall demon butler.

"How will I accomplish that?" Ciel looked at Sebastian with his one eye. The one blue eye that the world saw filled with malice and deeper hidden cold emotions. The young earl's voice was a little bit condescending as he talked to the demon,"Because you will do it." they stared at each other for a long moment and then Ciel broke the eye contact by swiftly turning around and resuming the leisurely pace that he had set while walking.

Sebastian didn't say anything as they both walked along the ghetto street of the dark slums. So his master wished, so he shall do.

It was a strange phenomenon for him. To care for a human, to be under the thumb of a fragile pathetic feeling creature, to obey and to actually be on the thin border of caring **about** the young master.

He was a demon.

Love was laughable.

The cool air was somewhat liberating for both people that walked on and on. Free and giving both persons a taste of sweet freedom from chains that bound them to each other and bound them to their own personal wants.

"How long are you going to stay out here young master?" Sebastian asked after a moment of long pure silence. The night was getting late and the young master had a business meeting tomorrow with a special client early in the morning.

"As long as I want." Ciel replied in monotone boredom. He was selfish, and that was the best quality for Sebastian's next meal. The hidden desire and will to do anything that he wanted, not listening to other people's wishes or desires, stomping out all others who threatened him in any way.

Sebastian sighed quietly and decided not to chide the young master for staying up late. His only duty was to protect and ensure the attaining of revenge that the little earl wanted so bad enough to throw away his soul for.

After a few more hours of strolling around the ghetto, Ciel decided to turn in for the night when his pocket watch chimed that it was midnight. They had been walking for about 3 and half hours and it seemd as if Ciel had seen and observed the area enough to go ahead with what the queen wanted.

Humans were such a mystery.

-.-.-.

Sebastian awoke early in the morning, he had little use for sleep and as a demon, did not require it otherwise than to recover from certain injuries. The changing of time did not surprise him, and for some reason, time seemed to move at a more normal pace than it had before Sebastian had met Ciel.

Yes...the 'old' days.

"Please stay out of the kitchen and try not to break anything." Sebastian ordered the three other servants working in the estate as they lined up in front of him.

"Yes sir!" all three saluted him and then talked amongst themselves as the butler walked away thinking in his head about the chores he would have to do for the day.

The old days...

When Sebastian just grabbed the nearest soul to him and feasted like a savage.

Time had been nothing but a blur and he could only remember how hideously savage and beast-like he had been. Eyes red and feverish with hunger and uncontrollable desire of fullfillment.

The beginning of his transformation had started with the first meeting with Ciel.

That was when he had promised himself that he would take only the best of the best.

That was when he had promised himself that he would write out contracts with humans so that both parties would obtain what they wanted with mutual consent.

That was when he had promised himself that he would always have a dividing line between himself and humans.

And so far Sebastian had been able to keep word of the first two.

The last one seemed to be more difficult than he had imagined it would have been.

The early hours of dawn slowly crept by and turned into early morning when Sebastian finished preparing Ciel's breakfast and placed everything onto the little cart that he would then wheel away up into Ciel's bedroom.

"Young master it is time to wake up." Sebastian opened up the curtains and poured out steaming hot but fragrant tea into a delicate white and blue cup before helping Ciel dress.

The young earl sleepily held out his arms so that his butler could unbutton his night shirt.

"One day you will have to learn how to do this yourself you know." Sebastian murmered in his nonchalant and blatant way as he slid the shirt off and slid on Ciel's daytime shirt on and began to button that up with long and slim fingers.

Ciel just yawned,"But I'll learn later." he replied sleepily as he let Sebastian dress him up like a little plastic doll. It was more comfortable for him if Sebastian did everything. Afterall, he would be giving his soul to the demon after he attained his revenge.

Sebastian just sighed patiently as he folded up Ciel's clothes and wheeled the little cart over to him before handing over the morning paper set on a silver tray.

"How was information gathering?" Ciel asked boredly as he took a slow and small sip of his morning tea which was Earl Grey by the way.

"Tonight should be sufficient time for me to complete the papers." the butler replied lightly as he served his young master a steaming scone.

"Good." Ciel replied as he took a bite of the warm freshly baked scone.

"Wouldn't it be better if I just killed all of them in one place?" Sebastian inquired as he stood behind Ciel as the young earl proceeded to eat.

Ciel paused mid bite, looked at Sebastian for a second, and then resumed eating,"That would make the job much easier." he replied,"And if we could do that, then the queen wouldn't have called for our services." his blue eye were dull and held no light,"Unfortunately for us, the idea of rebelling against the queen spreads like wildfire. They have more hideouts and bases than what the letter mentions. If we eliminate the biggest base for them, the remaining smaller units of the rebels will join forces and come after us with a vengeance." CIel sipped his tea.

Sebastian listened on as he put away the dirty plates away onto the silver tea tray.

"They're spread all over the place and they each have their own leader. They work together and are seperate at the same time" Ciel said thoughtfully as he handed Sebastian the morning paper,"They are weeds Sebastian."

There was silence as Ciel thought more about it. They could never completely wipe out rebels in a kingdom this large. There were multiple problems with this particular assignment that made it extremely difficult to deal with. Ciel would have to get the locations of most of all of the rebel hideouts and bases, he would have to obtain information about how they obtained money and weapons and cripple them economically, but crippling them financially would also result in the chance that the civilians would suffer too.

"If we manage to stamp one group out, another group will just take its place since they function like a network." Ciel sighed out heavily,"They have alot of people backing them, they have money and they are directly connected to regular citizens that have nothing to do with this." the young earl sipped his warm tea thoughtfully and as he set down the delicate tea cup onto the thin saucer his blue eye gleamed,"Sebastian, go information hunting." he looked at his startled demon butler.

"My lord?" Sebastian looked at Ciel, a strange look was on his face and he kept silent waiting for Ciel to explain the obvious plan.

"We'll cripple them." Ciel said with a wicked and cold smile lighting up his young face,"It's really simple now that I think of it." the black haired earl leaned back comfortably in his plush velvet armchair,"In other words we get rid of the bulk of them, take away most of their financial stability and make sure their weapon providers abandon them." Ciel's blue eye glowed a deep blue that was enough to make anyone shudder with discomfort.

They were not human.

.-.


	3. Chapter 3

One cannot play chess if one becomes aware of the pieces as living souls and the fact that the Whites and the Blacks have more in common with each other than with the players.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

-For a king to survive, it's good for him to be able to skillfully manipulate the other pieces using both the knight and queen. Beneath the throne, the bodies of your pieces will pile up with your sins. You must not lose.-

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

[We cannot resist the fascination of sacrifice, since a passion for sacrifices is part of a chessplayer's nature.]

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

The rest of the day was a blur much to Ciel's great surprise, the day that he thought would not go by at all was now turning into a day with not enough hours for him to work by.

Sebastian was gathering information about the whereabouts and bases of the rebel groups while Ciel was signing paperwork and documentary for his business. There was too much to do and too little time.

It was then that Ciel fiercely regretted taking time so lightly and insignificantly.

Dinner rolled by too quickly, but by then Ciel had finished the majority of his paperwork, and Sebastian was well on his way to finishing the preparations of the meal. He had obviously finished gathering the necessary information a few hours earlier.

And as the butler served his young master the extravagent meal, a silver tray, laden with a thick stack of papers sat on the other side of the table opposite of where Ciel was sitting.

"So you've managed to finish all of the information gathering I suppose." Ciel eyed the stack of paper sitting across from him at the far end of the dinner table, his blue eye glowed and his youthful face was a mask.

Sebastian could never tell what Ciel was thinking, the young human was too good at hiding emotions underneath that childish young face of his. That mask.

"Of course my lord." Sebastian replied lightly as he served the black haired earl his dinner with careful and deliberate hands. The other workers had already eaten in the kitchen and were now standing by in the dining room as was custom. They were quietly talking amongst themselves as usual and were making sure to make minimal noise so that Sebastian wouldn't get mad at them.

"How many bases are there?" Ciel carelessly asked as he began to eat. Usually he would wait until he finished a meal to look at all of the information, but currently he was short on time, he was supposed to have looked over all of the information before dinner but obviously, he hadn't.

Sebastian took a step back as Ciel began to eat and stood behind the little earl,"Approximately 159." he replied in a low voice,"However, within these numbers there are only about 19 groups that are capable of causing a real problem for you my lord."

Ciel paused midbite as he heard the piece of information and then resumed eating as he digested the words Sebastian had said. 19.

That was a problem, he would now have to know everything about those 19 groups, every single piece of information that they could provide, Ciel would have to dig for, and 19 was not a small number. Especially if it was 19 groups.

They would most likely go against around 200 people, however, if you included the other 140 groups, the number of people would most likely equal up to about 1000, maybe even more, no...it probably was more than 1000 if you counted all 159 groups.

Ciel sighed heavily and set down his silverware as he leaned back in his chair, he suddenly felt his appetite disappear at the thought of all of the people he would have to face off against.

During his lifetime, Ciel had learned many things, and one of the things he had learned was that there was strength in numbers. Not only because of sheer size, but because people were so malleable and easily manipulated. In a group, a person's confidence rose, their will and motivation increased and emotions played a large role in helping them fight and stay united.

Sebastian looked at his young master from where he stood, his humanized face was strangely curious, his eyes sparkled and glittered with a strange light as he grappled to understand the reality of the situation he would be facing. Humans weren't a problem for him, if he could he would rip away their souls and feast on them like the monster he was. However, this was against his contract and against his own self. He would have to fight the old fashioned way.

Bare hand and big brain.

"I will look over all of the information you have over there." Ciel finally said,"But I want you to get me all of the information you can about those 19 groups." his blue eye narrowed,"I need to know everything about them, including names." his voice was quiet and with a shiver of revulsion, Sebastian realized that this was the first time a human being has managed to instill an aura of darkness into him.

"Yes, my lord." Sebastina bowed shortly and then walked over to the silver tray, set it in front of Ciel and started to clean up after the earl.

It was clear that Ciel wasn't going to continue eating. there was too much to do right now and too much at hand.

Sebastian dimissed the three workers while he served Tanaka and Ciel some tea. The young earl looked through the papers quickly and effieciently while the old butler sighed out in contentment. CIel glanced at Tanaka before moving on to the rest of the papers, it was still amazing to him how much the old butler had changed.

Ciel could only remember the cold, no-nonsense and rigid person Tanaka had been, the proper, strict and traditional servant that Ciel had once feared when he had been younger. Right now though, it was gone, the old Tanaka had been hidden away, perhaps to soften up the young earl and show him a bit of affection, perhaps to subtly tell the little child that there was someone on this filthy world that cared for him, all these reasons were filled with guesswork and Ciel could not pinpoint the exact reason as to why Tanaka continued to act like a useless old man.

It was a mystery, and like all of the other mysteries on the world, Ciel could only come to the conclusion that they were a mystery for a reason.

"Sebastian." Ciel suddenly said breaking the comfortable silence that had descended in the large dining room.

"Yes?" Sebastian was immediately at Ciel's side like phantom. Unseen and unheard.

The young earl turned his head slowly so that he could take a good look at the demon butler with his one blue eye.

Silence had descended into the room and it was horrifyingly deafening to their ears.

Tanaka paid no attention to them and continually sipped his steaming hot green tea. The wrinkles on his face sagged down softening the edges of his old face but they did nothing to erase the cold properness lined into the contours and features of his face.

Master and servant looked at each other with expressionless faces.

Slowly, ever so slowly and eerily, a gradual creeping smile began to show hints of itself on Ciel's young face. The smile showed off wickedness and the coldness of Ciel's heart, it was razor sharp expression that clearly expressed the insanity dwelling within the young boy.

Sebastian was quiet as he waited for his master to speak, however his eyes did take note of the expression on Ciel's face.

It was a nice face.

A nice expression.

A proper expression.

The demon hid a smirk from his handsome composed face and just waited.

Waited.

And.

Waited.

"Make it fun for me." Ciel said in his condescending and bored voice of his. However, in contrast to his voice, the expression on his face showed more clearly than ever. The insanity, the hate, the pain, the hopelessness.

Everything.

The smile.

-.-.


	4. Chapter 4

One cannot play chess if one becomes aware of the pieces as living souls and the fact that the Whites and the Blacks have more in common with each other than with the players.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

-For a king to survive, it's good for him to be able to skillfully manipulate the other pieces using both the knight and queen. Beneath the throne, the bodies of your pieces will pile up with your sins. You must not lose.-

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

[We cannot resist the fascination of sacrifice, since a passion for sacrifices is part of a chessplayer's nature.]

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Sebastian blinked and then smiled,"Yes, my lord." he put a hand to his chest and bowed shortly before cleaning everything up and leaving the dining room for the night.

Tanaka would take care of the young earl for the night while Sebastian would go out for the night and maybe for the rest of the week.

The fastest way of getting information on the crucial 19 groups was to be in the group himself.

True, it might take some time, but Sebastian had already informed Ciel and Tanaka about his temporary absence, so for the time being the old butler would be reprising his role as the austere servant serving under the Phantomhive family while Sebastian would be out in the world playing the part of a rebelliion hungry ruffion looking to overturn the government and more specifically, the queen.

The demon butler was changing into clothes fit for a beggar when Ciel walked into the room that Sebastian had taken residency in.

Unperturbed by the sudden entrance of the young earl, the tall and graceful butler finished changing, folded all of his nice and expensive butler clothing up, set them into a dark wooden drawer where a glimpse of the inside would tell anyone that about 100 more of the exact same uniform happened to be folded up inside the large drawers and then finally turned to face the little earl who was sitting silently on Sebastian's neat and well made bed.

The earl barely made a dent in the bedsheets and blankets emphasizing the fact that Ciel was still nothing but a child.

"May I help you?" Sebastian readjusted his clothes into a truly hobo/beggar street look and then proceeded to mess his hair up and casually put a custom made tattered hat onto his head.

The little earl didn't say anything but just looked at Sebastian blue eye glowed slightly ominously in the dimness of the room and for once, the butler was mystified.

Just what could this young human be thinking?

And just as Ciel had walked into the butler's room, the young earl, after one last long look at the demon, stood up from the bed and walked out of the room in silence and dignity.

He never looked back once.

Sebastian stared after his master, a peculiar look coming over his face as the young earl closed the wooden door behind him.

Smiling gently to himself, the butler counted to thirty in his head before walking out of the room himself and out of the mansion.

He would be worming his way into the rebel's party. He would be learning everything that needed to be learned. He would become trusted, influential and liked.

And then.

He would take everything away from them.

As Sebastian walked down the gravel road laid out in front of the mansion, he could feel Ciel's gaze on his back as he walked further and further away from the place that he considered almost home.

From what he could tell.

It was going to be a long time before he himself would return to his master.

His rightful place.

His rightful spot.

Like a trained and dangerous dog returning to his weak and pitiful human owner.

-.-.

From his spot at the window, Ciel could spot his butler's form fading slowly into the night as he moved further and further away from the the mansion, away from him.

The light from the mansion cast his shadow outside in front of him, his figure was thrown out onto the floor and Ciel could see how frail that he really was.

When Ciel blinked his one eye and looked up, Sebastian was gone.

It would be a long time before he got to see his butler once again, and hopefully by then, everything would be taken care of. Hopefully.

But since when did life ever work out correctly?

Since when did life ever listen to the demands of the people living within it?

Ciel stepped back away from the window letting the thick heavy velvet curtain softly fall back to its place. Hiding the view of the outside.

Something for sure would happen, and that something would not be good.

Tanaka watched Ciel from the entrance of the room that the little earl was standing in. His eyes hidden behind little spectacles perched atop the bridge of his small nose. The old man was silent, he had returned to his old self, the self that he had been back when the Phantomhive Household had been unbroken, unshattered, and unbloodied.

And as Tanaka looked at his new but young master that he would be taking care of for a good long while, a strong pressing feeling of anguish holed itself up inside of his chest. The dark and dank feeling spread inside himself and he felt that he was home to moldy and damp hurt inside.

Tanaka hurt inside alot for the little and young earl.

However, he found that he could not cry.

He could not shed anymore tears.

Incapable of a feat so simple and so complex at the same time.

"Tanaka." Ciel's voice snapped the old man out of his silent brooding and the older gentleman looked at his present master with all the respect and subdued anguish that he could muster.

"Yes?" the butler gave a short half bow, his wrinkled and lined face softened at the look of worry that Ciel was desperately trying to hide in his deep cerulean blue eye.

"Help me turn in for the night." Ciel turned around and exited the room before making his way down the hallway to his room. He was tired, and he needed to think. Just think and not do anything else.

.-.-

The next day, it was as if nothing had changed.

Except that the mansion was now seemingly empty, devoid of a commanding and reliable presence that had been Sebastian. The busy worker, the dependable butler, the servant who got everything done on time and in exact precision no matter what the circumstances.

Pluto yowled like a cat and whimpered all day long and after many unsucessful attempts to get the great big dog/ werewolf to quiet down, everyone resorted to stuffing earplugs into their ears. However, it only muffled the noise and further increased Ciel's growing impatience, irritability and lonliness.

Ciel worked until afternoon and managed to finish all of his paperwork, then took his tea, a little short nap, finished up his lessons at dusk and was now left with nothing to do but stare at a chessboard sitting in front of him and by that time it was evening.

The little round table and two chairs accompanying it had been pulled up near the great big window overlooking the courtyard in his office. The lights were dim and cast long flickering shadows across the richly carpeted floor of the room. The curtains were pulled back from the windows letting moonlight flood into the office through the sheer thin glass windows.

The young earl looked at the pieces placed on the chessboard in silence,his elbow resting on the arm of his chair and his chin gently resting atop his hand, his blue eye glowed deeply and richly.

A slow cold smile spread across his face, distorting his young and delicate features. Ciel leaned forward in his chair and with one large swipe of his hand, he knocked the chess pieces over onto the floor where they clattered and rolled to a stop.

Only the black king and queen, by some stroke of luck and rare chance, remained on the chessboard, unpreturbed and resolute. But they weren't the only ones.

Across the chessboard, gleaming in a halfbeam of moonlight, a pawn lay on its side, pure white and looking as if it was a part of the chessboard itself and carved from pure white stone.

A frown creased the young earl's face and reaching over with a pale porcelain hand, he grasped the fallen pawn with ginger fingers and held the piece up to his face. Studying it closely as if there was something to study at all. His blue eye gleamed as he looked the piece over and over and over.

"A pawn." the young earl said simply and then set it down beside the black King and Queen. He resettled himself back in his chair and let his eye gaze on the three pieces standing silently on the checkered board,"A pawn." he repeated again but this time more to himself.

Ciel turned his head away and looked out of the large window where moonlight flooded into the room silently and majestically. The light illuminated everything around it giving them an unearthly palor and glow to it.

It seemed almost like a dream.

Suddenly, Ciel could feel a slow creeping emotion settle itself in the depths of his heart. It was cold, cruel and tortured.

He felt as though there was nothing inside of him, no feelings, no emotions, no compassion or empathy. Just ashes and darkness where a fire had burned long ago.

Ciel arubtly stood up from his chair and walked out of the room wtih Tanaka following him faithfully to his room. It would be a very long time before Sebastian came back.

.-.-


	5. Chapter 5

One cannot play chess if one becomes aware of the pieces as living souls and the fact that the Whites and the Blacks have more in common with each other than with the players.

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-For a king to survive, it's good for him to be able to skillfully manipulate the other pieces using both the knight and queen. Beneath the throne, the bodies of your pieces will pile up with your sins. You must not lose.-

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[We cannot resist the fascination of sacrifice, since a passion for sacrifices is part of a chessplayer's nature.]

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Months passed by and there was still no word from Sebastian, however, there was reported uneasiness in the moring papers about the growing restlessness of the rebels and that gave a clue to Ciel that Sebastian was doing fine.

Yes, his perfect butler was doing perfectly well out there while Ciel was having a miserable time of everything.

The day after Sebastian left, nothing went right. The mansion was a mess despite Tanaka's diligent efforts to clean the place up, however, there was only so much that an old man his age could really do. To top it off the three other servants that worked in the mansion were really of no help since they were hired for their mercenary skills rather than housekeeping and cooking.

Ciel hadn't had a decent meal in weeks, his business deals with other clients and investors went haywire, and his tea was always stone cold.

Everything and anything that could go wrong, did go wrong.

"Tanaka." Ciel settled back into his plush armchair that was placed in front of the small, wooden, and round chess table made of dark polished wood.

"Yes?" the stately butler gave a half bow from where he stood behind Ciel, his lined face was prim and yet gentle at the same time.

"From today onwards until Sebastian comes back, you will be taking care of the business." the weary and exhausted earl sighed out heavily, his blue eye was closed.

"As you wish." the old butler bowed once again even if Ciel didn't see it.

Had it been any other time, the butler would have given Ciel the worst spanking of his life for abandoning his position like this. However, Tanaka could see how much indecent housekeepers were affecting the young child's life and work routine, and so the butler just nodded his sensible head and decided not to say anything.

Truthfully, Sebastian was amazing, he had the mysterius power to draw out the potential in Ciel and amplify it. The reason why Ciel was so successful and why he was such an accomplished young earl was because of how Sebastian was supporting him.

Tanaka silently shook his head. He was disappointed with himself, a butler who had been with the Phantomhive family for as long as he could even remember was now a dependent. He had lost his youth too fast and as a result he could no longer be of any useful service to his young master.

Ciel sighed heavily and slowly opened his blue eye to look at the chessboard in front of him. All of the pieces were aligned and set in their correct positions with the pawns in the front and the rookie, knight, bishiop, king and queen behind on their specific squares.

The mansion was enveloped in silence, the usual whining and yowling Pluto emitted had been silenced long ago since the great dog had realized that Sebastian was not going to be back for a while and the three hired mercenaries were careful to keep quiet around the young master so as not to irritate the blue eyed child even further.

Life was boring. There was nothing to do other than wait for Sebastian to come back so that their plan to get rid of the rebels in bulk would start.

"Go make me some cake." Ciel ordered Tanaka in his bored and indifferent voice.

The old butler just bowed and left the room silently without a word. Hopefully that war veteran isn't int he kitchen trying to make something to eat, Tanaka thought to himself as he walked down the hallway shaking his old gentlemanly head.

In the solitude of the office and with nothing else to do, Ciel began a game of chess.

By himself and against himself.

The silence in the room rang in his ears like highly pitched bells and except for the occasional click of a chess piece being set down onto the chessboard, there was no noise whatsoever and it was this very thing that gave a sense of peace to the young black haired earl. He hadn't realized it, but now the truth pricked him in the side, all he had wanted was this feeling of peace and quietness.

Suddenly, there was a gust of cold air blowing in from one of the windows behind Ciel and the young earl paused in setting down a black knight on a white square as the gust hit him, and then proceeded to set the piece down on the destined spot,"Front doors are built for a reason." Ciel murmered in his indifferent voice as he settled back into his chair.

The sudden flow of air stopped as the intruder closed the window with a barely audible click,"Yes, but I wouldn't like to make my presence known as of yet since I am required to go back in two hours time." the person replied blandly.

"Now tell me." Ciel commanded as Sebastian, who looked the same as ever and even wore the same clothes as he had when he left the mansion, stepped into Ciel's line of sight.

Sebastian smiled at his master's impatience and gave his respectful half bow gracefully,"Yes, my lord." his eyes gleamed red and then went back to their original human color as he straightened.

Ciel ignored the game of chess in front of him and looked at his demon butler with his blue eye,"Tell me everything." his voice was quiet.

The demon opened his mouth,"We have greatly overestimated the rebels..." he began, and for an hour and a half, Sebastian told his story to his weak and pathetic human master that called himself Ciel.

Sebastian could not really say he had missed this place although it was much more preferable than the place he stayed at with the rebels.

No, he had not missed this place at all. He was someone without any emotional attatchments to any given place, memory, thing, person or anything for that matter.

Hunger was all he could feel.

That eternal ravaging lust for something to sate his appetite.

The butler shuddered at the thought of how long ago his last meal had taken place.

Of course, he always could feed on the rebel's souls, however, Sebastian reflected, hunger would make Ciel's soul taste all the more satisfying and infinitely better than those common trash souls that he could take any time.

It was about patience and cultivation.

Ciel looked thoughful for a moment and then suddenly the office rang with the young earl's rare and adult like laughter. The sound alone was enough to send shivers up a person's back but the fact that it came from a child would be enough to make anyone run,"This is great Sebastian." he grinned up at the tall and thin demon who stood in front of him. His smile was twisted and his blue eye glowed ominously.

Sebastian blinked once but was unable to say anything and for the first time, he wasn't able to fathom what this little human being was thinking.

"Now go." Ciel commanded,"Come back at the end of 2 months." he stood up suddenly from his chair and walked up to Sebastian gesturing for the tall demon to kneel so that they were eye to eye.

"My lord?" Sebastian knelt so that he was now peering into Ciel's blue eye. Truthfully, the time he had spent away from this place had given him a different yearning than his hunger, a different hunger...and as a demon, he had yet to figure it out.

"Take away their hope." Ciel whispered and then he slowly leaned in and pressed his soft mouth against the soft but surprised one that belonged to Sebastian. The earl pulled away arubtly and turned around leaving the startled demon kneeling before nothing,"Now go." the young earl left the room.

What he just done...

.-.-


End file.
